National Guard kneel with protesters in Hollywood

Members of the National Guard in Hollywood knelt with protesters against police brutality for several minutes Tuesday, prompting applause from onlookers and participants.

The troops were among hundreds deployed to Southern California over the weekend following property damage in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.

Wow pic.twitter.com/KbyOeT2vkS

— Sophia Lee 소현 (@SophiaLeeHyun) June 2, 2020

People are ecstatic! pic.twitter.com/WmvlQdr5Re

— Sophia Lee 소현 (@SophiaLeeHyun) June 2, 2020

Although the Hollywood protests remained peaceful, police arrested multiple protesters over curfew violations after 6:00 p.m., including several who spelled out “BLM” for Black Lives Matter with their bodies on a rooftop, according to a Los Angeles-area CBS affiliate.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore reported the department had made approximately 2,700 arrests since the protests began.

Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) separately knelt with protesters at City Hall the same day, although Garcetti has come under sharp criticism for his response to the protests in general, prompting a separate contingent of demonstrators to protest outside his official residence Tuesday.

Protesters have called on Garcetti to fire Moore, who sparked backlash with Monday remarks on the demonstrations. 

“We didn’t have protests last night — we had criminal acts,” Moore said during a news conference, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We didn’t have people mourning the death of this man, George Floyd — we had people capitalizing. His death is on their hands as much as it is those officers.”

Moore apologized minutes later, but protesters swiftly called for his ouster.

Protests over Floyd’s death have swept nearly every major U.S. city. Since they began, Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck before his death, has been charged with second-degree murder, while three other officers involved have been charged with aiding and abetting.